Iran detains 35 women for going to football match

Reports have emerged that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will allow women in the country to attend football matches - after the arrest of 35 female spectators caused global outrage.

Iranian state media said police detained 35 women as they tried to enter Tehran's Azadi Stadium for Thursday's match between rival local men's clubs Esteghlal and Persepolis.

Federation Internationale de Football Association said it was "very concerned" to learn about Thursday's "deeply regrettable incidents" involving the women who were detained at Azadi Stadium.

In an interview with VOA Persian on Thursday, Brussels-based Iranian activist Darya Safai said Iranian women have been trying to get into football stadiums for years, sometimes disguising themselves with facial hair to look like men.

The head of FIFA pledged to do his best to help resolve a dispute between Iran and Asian football's governing body the AFC concerning the latter's decisions in selecting the venue for Asian Champions League matches between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

In a meeting with Iranian Sports Minister Masoud Soltanifar, FIFA's Gianni Infantino expressed his hope that the problem of holding matches between the two countries in their respective territories would be resolved, reports Efe.

Later on Thursday, Infantino also met President Hassan Rouhani who urged Federation Internationale de Football Association to ensure "questions not related to the sport do not influence sport and that people are not deprived of watching competitions in their own stadiums". "They then collected our tickets and took them away".

"It's very clear that politics should stay out of football and football should stay out of politics", he said.

"There are of course political issues between countries all over the world but this should not have an impact", he said. News site IranWire quoted him last December as telling students during a lecture that the presence of women in stadiums "inevitably" leads to morally corrupt acts.

"I wish women would gather outside the stadium to ask men not to enter without them".

One female caller said she sees irony in Azadi Stadium's name, whose English translation is "freedom".

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